INVITATIONS: I made the invitations on the computer. I made one side of the paper to look like a ninjago face (Kai). On the back there were images of the characters on top and below was the description- Lord Garmadon and his evil snakes discovered that it is X’s birthday and plan to stop the celebration! X is looking for only the bravest ninja warriors to stop the evil plan of the enemy. Join us for ninja training in order to defend his honor! Then I wrote date, time, location. At the bottom I wrote out a code in Japanese that they had to decode in order to read a secret message: Come dressed all in black, they loved this!

DECORATIONS: We used both our yard and house and so the decorations were elaborate. The color scheme was the colors of the lego ninjagos- white, black, yellow, red and blue and the theme was ninja/Japanese/lego. We had Chinese lanterns hanging everywhere- both homemade and store bought; yellow, red and black streamers, red, black, white and blue balloons with ninjago eyes on them, handmade Japanese fans, origami dragons hanging from the streamers, and vases filled with color coordinating legos. The front entrance had a giant banner with Jay the ninjago on it and a handmade Lego Men birthday sign. The ninjago face was cut out and so each kid got to take a picture behind the banner with his face sticking through. There was also a huge drawing of Sensei Wu on the back wall in the back yard where they had Karate lessons and a table in the same area that was filled with all of their ninja supplies. There were homemade birthday banners in red, black white and yellow, both inside and in the back yard, and a huge decoration/banner behind the dessert table. The plates were karate plates I had ordered online which were also black and red and the cups were black with ninjago eyes glued onto them.

ACTIVITIES/GAMES: While we were waiting for all of the kids to arrive the kids gathered at a table on our front porch where I had sewed a simple red piece of fabric to make headbands for them. They used black and white puffy paint to decorate their ninja headband. I had printed out Japanese symbols and translated all of their names into Japanese and posted copies around the table so that the kids could write them onto their headbands- they thought that was so cool! As they finished each one went and took a picture behind the ninjago Jay banner with my son standing next to them in his ninja costume. When everyone had arrived and done their headbands and photo we headed to the back where I showed them the table with their ninja supplies. On the table there were: Ninja power water with homemade Ninjago labels, handmade origami ninja stars, handmade ninja swords with duct tape and foam tubing, and ninja pins for one of the games.

Then I explained the first game- a lego relay. They had to pick up legos with a spoon in their mouth and run to the other end without dropping it, and drop it into a plate. They loved it and cheered each other on. Then we switched teams and played the second game. I set up the lego ninjago pins (toilet paper and paper towel rolls covered in color coordinated paper with ninjago eyes on them) and gave each of them a ninja star. They had to take 3 turns each throwing the stars at the pins and the first team to knock over all the pins first won! Then they took a water break with their ninjago water bottles. Then we played the third game. They had to keep the ninjago balloons off the ground with their swords, and I slowly added more and more balloons to make it more and more difficult. Then we took a break for snacks. While I finished getting the food onto the table I sent them on a task (I had prepared it ahead of time in case I needed an extra game). I had made circle shaped ninjas and posted them as decorations all over the front yard, house and back yard. I sent them to see who could count them and all and come back with the correct number of ninjas. After they ate we went outside for karate lessons. My husband taught them 3 basic moves. Then we had an awards ceremony and each kid received a black belt (a simple sewn piece of black fabric) and took a picture with their black belt and my son in front of the huge Sensei Wu picture. To finish things off we had a Cole ninjago piñata that I made- just the face with the eyes. They each got a few chances to swing a big ninja sword at the piñata and then collect the candy in a handmade Chinese take out box made in coordinating colors with the ninjago eyes. Then we opened presents and ate cake.

COSTUMES: My son had a full ninja costume complete with headmask that my Mom had bought him. Everyone else came dressed in black, including my husband, myself and my daughters. This made for a great group picture with their red ninja headband, black clothes, black belt and swords!

PARTY SNACKS: We had the party in the morning so we just had snacks and not a meal. I made fruit and savory kebabs, babybel ninja cheeses (pull off the string just at the center and draw eyes on the cheese with an edible pen), lego juice boxes (juice boxes covered in printable lego paper so that they looked like giant legos), peanut butter and jelly sushi wraps (pb&j sandwiches wrapped to look like sushi) and then just snacks like popcorn, olives, chips and peanuts. I set the snacks out in round glasses in rows of 6 so that it looked like a lego in the pictures.

CAKE: I made 4 small round cakes in his favorite flavors. One of each ninjago face- Kai, Cole, Jay and Zane. I also made a dessert table which had- ninja marshmellow pops sitting in color coordinated m&ms in round glasses, ninja swords (long pretzels dipped in chocolate), ninja stars (black licorice rolls), RKT sushi, and homemade lego chocolate candies. They were allowed to fill their take out boxes from the treat table and take all their treats home with them!

FAVORS: The kids took home- their ninja headband, black belt, origami star, a Chinese lantern, e lego ninjago pin, their candy and treats, their ninjago water bottle and their sword. I sent the picture with my son and each child wearing their black belts and standing in front of Sensei Wu as a thank you note to each child for the gift and for coming to the party. It was a lot of work because most of the decorations were handmade but my son loved it and so did his friends. His friend’s Moms still stop me to tell me their sons run around the house in their headbands and ask to take karate lessons from my husband.